Castle Knight 3 speakers - first thoughts

[kidloco]

Thought id share my first thoughts on these which arrived a couple of hours ago.

I was after a set of small floorstanders for my back room which is being repurposed from a console room with 5.1 (just had a aego P5 system in there) to a little adult chill room.

Games room just wasnt getting used since PS4 is in main room and the Aego in there was pretty dire for music.

Didnt have a massive budget what with just getting married and baby on the way. I set myself £200-£300. I went scoring the secondhand market, could really find anything nice, there was a few nice speakers but they all looked really old and was in finishes that I really couldnt stand. I know you listen to speakers but I dont want them to look an eyesore.

Long story short, saw these Castle Knights 3's, brand new, reduced from £600 to £250. Choice of finishes. Free next day delivery. Looked a bargain. Now normally im the first to advise to listen to everything first but I was just to busy with other stuff and as they wernt to much I took a punt. Plus they only had 2 pairs in the finish I wanted. I did read up online first and they seemed to come across quite favorably.

pictures time, excuse the messy room.



Was really well packaged.


Even came with a pair of gloves MJ would be proud of


Unpacked, first impressions were very good. Nicely made speaker for the cash.






Came with plinth and spikes, and a set of spike cups as well for those that need them.


Plinth fitted, picture doesnt show but there is spacers inbetween base and plinth. The speakers port is at the bottom so I guess this space it leaves gives it a bit of room to breath.


Unplugged my GS10s for a quick test


Hooked them up and tried a bit of music. Its a AV setup they are plugged into so I just hooked iPad up and used spotify.


Now considering its hooked up to a AV amp, and the source is just spotify through an iPad I have to say im pretty impressed. Vocals sound good and solid, detail is not to bad either. Bass is also pretty snappy and whilst non monolith deep, considering the dimensions of the speaker is pretty impressive.

Just left them running in for a bit downstairs. Not decided on the stereo amp I will be matching them up with yet. Ill probably get another secondhand Roksan Kandy Liii amp. Used to have one and couldnt fault it.

So for anyone looking for a nice looking, and sounding pair of small floorstanders. You could do a hell of a lot worse then these little babies.

Now to go and hide them from the missus. Im sure she wont notice

 

[kidloco]

Yeah sorry gents I thought I mentioned the little gap at the bottom. Excuse the crappy phone pic


My speakers in the living room are the Monitor Audio GS10 (Gold Series). And yes even with a quick listen they have a very different sound then them. But that's to be expected given the price difference. The GS 10 have much brighter sound, The detail and separation they give is what made me purchase them in the first place. They are stunning for the cash when on a proper stereo amp.

Even sow I was expecting the castles to be a lot more laid back then they appear to be, which is great for me as that's the type of presentation I prefer. The bass in particular seems really nice and snappy. Ill reserve my final judgement until I finally decide on a amp for them. I've give myself the same budget (£250) and ill looking at the secondhand market. Narrowed it down to a few good amps I have either owned before or at least had a very good listen to. Should hopefully have one by weekend or early next week.

 

[kidloco]

Well just bagged the amp. Got a mint Cyrus 6a for £200. Should arrive in a few days.

Last thing on the list is a decent source now. Need a decent hi-fi streamer as I sold all my CDs when I sold my CD player and stereo amp.

Think its going to be either a Sqeezebox or a Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30 network player unless anyone can suggest anything better. Dont really want to pay more then £100-£150 at this moment in time.

 

[kidloco]

Well bit of an update, I managed to build my little system for spare room.

Castle Knight 3 speakers
Cyrus 6a amp
Sqeezebox classic v3 streamer
Mark Grant interconnects & Van Damme Blue speaker cable

Was all going swimmingly until I noticed one speaker sounded off. One of the tweeters is no longer working

Shop was good about about it, there being picked up monday and new ones sent straight out.

 

[kidloco]

hows the cyrus amp ? would be interested to know your thought on it

Very impressed with the amp. I had a Cyrus III a few years ago, and while the detail was excellent, and the bass super quick and snappy it was still a tad clinical. Still a great listen but not the type of amp you could sit down and listen to for hours on end if you know what I mean.

The 6a is much better though, it still has the same talent of grabbing every bit of detail but the bass has much more impact and is not as lean as the 3. Very much improved.

If im being mega critical its not as good as the Roksan Kandy LIII. That really was a stunner of an amp for the cash. Although not quite as detailed as the Cyrus, it was just so great to listen to. With amazing slam, it seemed to go from silence to balls out in a heartbeat.

Cant complain though, grabbed the Cyrus for a lot less then a Roksan would have cost me. Bit worried about what im going to do for speakers now as the light oak Castle 3's seem to be sold out. If that the case im back looking at other speakers

 

[kidloco]

Well having a bit of a faff to say the least getting speakers sorted. Sent the faulty castles back. They emailed saying sorry no more replacements or spare parts. We will have to refund you.

Ordered some Mission MX3 instead. Again £250. Boxes arrived yesterday. They are absolutely huge. Opened them up, colour is completely different to the image on the web. Called them up saying don't want them as they do tog with any of the furniture. And I'm not about to replace that any time soon. They the. Proceeded to tell me that I would have to send them back as there not faulty. Shipping was coming out at nearly £40 so demanded to speak to a manager. I had to send him a photo of the speakers, and the picture off their website. He agreed and they are collecting them tomorrow.

I've decided floorstanders are just to big for the room they are going in. I'm off to my local hi-fi shop tomorrow. Doug Bradys in Warrington. Lovely shop, he said just bring in my amp and they will let me try a load of speakers. Need to be strong. Last time I went in there for a set of £200 stand mounters I ended up walking out with a £850 set of GS10s

 

[kidloco]

Well had a good couple of hours in Doug Brady's hi-fi on Friday.

Took my Cyrus 6 amp in and a selection of mp3s on a usb stick. They had set me up in one of their listening rooms. Hooked my amp up to a Musical Fidelity Clic to play the mp3s.

Asked what speakers I wanted to listen to first. Just said start with the cheapest I had shortlisted. The Dali Zensor 1. They are tiny speakers and are only £200 so wasnt expecting great things, but I was very shocked at the quality of sound these little speakers pumped out. Granted the bass was light, but what was there was fantastic, tight, snappy and so great to listen to. I was taken aback by how good they sounded. Listened to a few different songs to get a good feel for them then on to the next speakers.

Next up was the Q acoustic concept 20. These cost nearly double the price of the last at £350. Was expecting great things after all the awards they have won. Was a tad underwhelmed to be honest. Sounded OK, but just no spark to them. The Zensor 1 where fair more enjoyable to listen to. Bass was a touch slower and muddied as well. Oh well, next!

I wanted the sound of the Zensor 1 but with a bit more depth and umph, so they brought out the bigger model, the Zensor 3. At first I wasnt that impressed by these, seemed a bit lifeless. I was about to give up on them then a good song came on and I cranked it up a bit. They suddenly came to life. Sounded really great when fed a bit more juice. It was a problem that you had to turn them up pretty loud to get the best from them though. That discounted them to be honest.

Cant remember what they speakers they put on next, never heard of them, ecoss or something. sounded OK, but nothing special, highs were very dull, they cost nearly £500 as well. switched them quick smart.

So far nothing had impressed as much as the 1st cheapest speakers. They put them back on to make sure I wasnt imagined things. Nope, still sounded great. In a last ditch attempt one of the other staff members gave me 2 more to listen to. I had tole them I had GS10s in my main system, so they brought out the Silver 1s. They really did look stunning, there £500 and look every penny of it. Sounded great and a sound im very used to. I had narrowed it down to these and the Zensor 1s at this point. Fair old price difference between the two though.

Just as I was about to leave they suggested I listened to one more set. He brought a set of Rega RS1. Id never even heard of these. They looked very smart though in gloss white. Put them on and was immediately impressed. Great detail, leapt out of the cabinets and not bad punch for a little speaker. In the gloss finish they are £482 though. It was now between these and the Zensor 1.

I was mulling over my decision, when they offered to lend me the RS1s to see how they would sound at home. So off I trotted with them and my amp.

This is where things went a bit crazy. Got home. Plugged everything in, put a tune on and was greated by a super loud noise which was part music, part static. Thought id blown the speakers. Tried the speakers on my other system and they were fine thank god. The amp had managed to develop a fault. bloody great. Called Doug Bradys an told them what had happened. Said you might as well have the speakers back as ive no amp to listen to them with now . They were amazing in fairness. They said come to the shop and we will see what we can do. Arrived there 30 mins later with broken amp. Their technician took it off and went to have a look to see what was wrong with it. 15 mins later he came back and said it was goosed. one of the boards in it needs replacing, it will need to be sent back to Cyrus. He said hes seen it quite a lot in Cyrus gear, its the reason they dont sell it at the shop any more, they had more returns then with any other manufacturer. Great!

Anyways.., as I was about to leave, I said you might as well have the speakers back. They said dont be daft, we will lend you an amp. Ended up walking out the shop with the RS1s and a rather nice Exposure amp

Ive contacted the person I bought the amp from and hes being very good about it all. Its being sent back to him tomorrow. If he can fix it he will, if he cant he will send me full refund. He buys and sells hi-fi gear for a living so rep is everything. In the meantime im sat listening to my nice loan system

Sounds great in my little hi-fi room, will order the RS1s tomorrow in gloss white. Ive found them slightly cheeper else where but the service at this place is stunning. They well and truly deserve my custom. Hence why ive been using them for over 20 years.

So my initial thread of £200 castle speakers for my newly acquired amp has turned into £482 Rega speakers with no amp at the moment. Funny how things work out eh!

 

[kidloco]

TBH I did not think you would use MP3 to try out some high end speakers.

I wouldn't say £200 to £500 are high end by any means. Well ripped mp3's can't still sound pretty damn good when played through a decent system. I took a mix of 320k mp3's and flac files plus a few lower quality rips. I do listen to the odd bit of internet radio and spotify so it's good to know how a system sounds when fed with less then Stella source material.

My cyrus 6 should be back on Wednesday. The chap has found the fault and replacement parts on way. He's going to leave it running for a full day then ping it back to me.

 

[kidloco]

Didn't realise Rega did speakers . I'll take a Turntable off them anyday and amps are pretty damn good.

Me either until I heard them

For some reason I still felt the need to search for reviews on them even after I'd heard them, and enjoyed them move then other 5 star reviewed speakers. Was for some reason relieved to find them well reviewed.

Got an email off the shop fixing the cyrus amp. Sent me a video of it all working. Saying how he has serviced it at the same time. Will be with me Friday. I'll stick a pic on when it's all setup in the finished room.

 

[kidloco]

Final update

Amp arrived on Friday as promised. All plugged in a everything now working fantastically. Spent the weekend bedding in the new speakers. Had to get them in gloss black instead of white as they are no longer available in that finish. Shame, I really liked them in white.

Overall im really happy with the setup. The Squeezbox is really simple to use. It doesn't sound as nice at the Musical Fidelity M1 Clic they let me play with when I was demoing the speakers, but then thats to be expected given the massive price difference. There still fetching around £600-£700 secondhand so ill have to make do with what I have for now. Still sounds very nice.

 

[kidloco]

• Source - Squeezebox classic V3
• Amp - Cyrus 6a
• Speakers - Rega RS1
• Speaker Stands - Mission Stancette
• Cables - Mark Grant interconnect, Van Damn studio 2.5

Havent got a sub, the room is to small, it would just be swamped with bass. Plus the little Rega's have surprisingly good bass. I have a BK Monolith in my lounge for when I need that proper bass fix

 

[kidloco]

So much for final update. Cyrus is currently boxed up and will be going back in the morning. I was listening to it a couple of days ago and it just switched itself off. Figured I must have knocked the remote or something, switched it back on, was fine again. 30 mins later same again. Arghhhh! Did this 7 times in 2 hours. I left it on all night and it was fine. Then out of the blue it did it again. Some very intermittent fault that I can't put up with. Seller was good about it. Refunded me instantly and arranged pickup by courier.

My cyrus days are over. I'm off to a shop tomorrow to pick up a replacement. One that's hopefully a bit more reliable.

 

[kidloco]

Just back with new amp. Have to say it completely smashes the Cyrus 6 sound quality wise. So impressed with it. My first bit of Naim kit and im more then a little impressed.

Its a Naim Nait 5i - 2

 

[kidloco]

He wanted £475, which in fairness is a very good price considering its the i-2, and its immaculate. But he was moving house and in a bit of a rush to get rid of some of his gear. Got him down to £410.

 

[kidloco]

Yep bottom of the range as far as Naim stuff goes. Been listening to it pretty much non stop since I got it. Can't get over just how good it sounds. I abandoned hifi a few years ago when I switched solely to focus on av. Now I have my own house and a spare room I get the best of both worlds.

The sqeezebox is the weakest link in the system right now. It will do for a while. Got a little girl due to arrive in 10 weeks so other things to spend my cash on. I'll keep one eye open for any deals around the musical fidelity clic player. That really was a lovely bit of kit.